A ridge of high pressure in place over the region is providing pleasant weather conditions for the second half of this week. Wednesday will probably be the day with the most clouds. This is thanks to northwest flow aloft, sending some high clouds streaming across the region. Some light rain showers associated with this pattern are possible in the mountains. This pattern can be seen on the satellite image below:
Strengthening of the high pressure ridge will likely bring clearer skies for Thursday and Friday. Unlike during December and January, the sun is high enough on the horizon now that a strong temperature inversion isn’t expected. The sun is now high enough above the horizon to heat the surface of the earth to a point that allows vertical mixing, which is essentially an inversion killer. Overnight inversions are expected since cold air sinks and there is no heat source to cause mixing, but that should be cleared out by daytime heating after sunrise. Somewhat increased pollution from the lack of horizontal air movement can be expected, with the worst day being Friday.
This weekend, a cold front will again cross the region. This will bring increased clouds and cooler temperatures. Significant precipitation isn’t currently expected in the Columbia Basin, but some drizzle or isolated light rain showers are possible on Saturday. The cold front will also bring breezy conditions to the area Friday night and Saturday. Following this, a trough (an elongated area of low-pressure) will move through, Saturday night or Sunday, which will bring with it another period of breezy conditions. Right now, models are indicating that this event will be weaker than last Sunday’s wind storm, but I’ll be sure to keep track of it!
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